You can buy a Zenfone AR right now! International shipping available.

June 14, 2017 Categories: News, Price, Shopping and Deals, Zenfone AR, ZS571KL by 1 Comment

With the official unveiling of the Zenfone AR in Taiwan just hours ago, we see the first eBay listing. You can buy a Zenfone AR out of Taiwan right now for $1099 USD. According to the seller they ship to Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia. So you can indeed be first and don’t need to wait for a month or more. In fact not all countries will likely see a Zenfone AR release.

Do keep in mind this is a Taiwan version of the Zenfone AR so you need to check bands. It’s possible that you will not have LTE compatibility.

Regarding network bands and compatibility, all indications are that this is the WW version, but we are contacting the seller to confirm. Asus Taiwan only lists the WW version as well, indicating that there is no specific TW version. So these are the bands as listed on the official Asus Taiwan product page:

This model is a true powerhouse with the a super charged Snapdragon 821 (optimized version), 8GB of RAM, 128GB storage, 2K AMOLED display, 2560 x 1440 resolution, Google Tango and Daydream ready, TriCam System, among other top end specs.

 

New report says Zenfone 4 coming at end of July

June 9, 2017 Categories: News, Release Date, Zenfone 4 by 0 Comments

This is just breaking and we will have full details within hours. Digitimes is reporting that the Zenfone 4 launch or unveil will be happening at the end of July. Taiwan would be the first market to get the Zenfone 4, with other Asian countries to follow.

The delay of the Zenfone 4 was largely due to “design overhaul and efficiency upgrades” according to Asus CEO Jerry Shen. We aren’t so sure but wasn’t the supply shortage and processor shortages part of the delay?

The Digitimes article states that the Zenfone 4 “will come with competitive prices”. This is an interesting suggestion. The article goes on to suggest the 5.5-inch model is going to have a price of below NT$15,000. We will have to look at the Zenfone 3 launch and the original pricing tiers to see if the Zenfone 4 is actually going to be priced the same or will it be lower. The fact is Asus has been quite adamant about not playing the race to the bottom game in terms of pricing.

Update: We looked back to the Zenfone 3 launch prices in Taiwan, and the flagship mainstream model was announced for NT$9,990. So the Digitimes article to suggest competitive prices and then mention NT$15,000 seems a bit contradictory at this point. Yes, they say “price of below” but NT$15,000 was the Taiwanese launch price of the Zenfone 3 Deluxe. At this point we can’t put a lot of trust in the pricing that Digitimes is reporting.

Apparently Asus will initially release a 5.5-inch model with other models to follow after that. We know about the Zenfone 4 Max (ZC554KL) but so far no details or leaks have emerged about the rest of the line-up. That is about to change.

An interesting nugget from the article is that Jerry Shen mentioned the Zenfone 5 possibly showing up at MWC 2018. That would be a first considering Computex is “the” show for Asus and their hardware showcase.

Shen shared the price of the Zenfone AR in the Taiwan market. It will cost NT$25,000. Do no simply convert this price into USD because that is not going to be accurate for the US pricing.

[source: Digitimes.com]

No Zenfone 4 at Computex 2017 event. Are we shocked? Nope.

May 29, 2017 Categories: Computex, Computex 2017, News, Release Date, Zenfone 4 by 0 Comments

No Zenfone 4 at Computex? How could this be? Truth be told we are not shocked by this development.

Fact. Snapdragon 835 was delayed as were other supplies. On that basis it was hard to think Asus would come out with their Zenfone 4 at this point. Sure we hoped to see some new models but it just wasn’t in the cards at this time.

Asus spoke about the fact that the Zenfone 3 Zoom and Zenfone AR would essentially buy them some time. With the Zenfone AR being a summer June/July release, this means the Zenfone 4 can wait a while longer. These two Zenfone models allowed Asus to delay the Zenfone 4 release without leaving a big void.

There is a silver lining here though. If you live in certain markets outside of Asia, you realize that most products show by Asus at Computex don’t make it to stores for months after the unveiling. That would have been the case had Asus shown the Zenfone 4 this year. So think of this possibility. How about when the Zenfone 4 event takes place, the pre orders start within a month or less? That would new and exciting territory for Asus. Having an unveiling and then having the product available to buy right away would be an appreciated change. Agree?

The shortages of supplies including processors will only improve the longer Asus can hold out. It’s entirely like that an August unveiling could happen. Summer release? Seems odd. If July, then it’s right in there with the Zenfone AR release. Perhaps Asus will put the AR release along side the Zenfone 4. An unlikely scenario is that Asus waits until September for their Zenfone 4 release. It’s entirely possible at this point because summer is certainly not a time for making headlines with everyone taking vacations.

We have a while to wait, but it’s not all bad. When the unveiling happens you will be able to get one in your hands faster than ever before. And that’s a good thing don’t ya think?

Asus CEO Jerry Shen says Zenfone AR to US in early July – costs less than Galaxy S8 Plus

May 29, 2017 Categories: News, Release Date, V570KL, Zenfone AR, ZS571KL by 0 Comments

Engadget caught up with Asus CEO Jerry Shen at Computex where they asked him about the Zenfone AR. According to Shen, the Zenfone AR is coming to Taiwan in mid-June and late-June or early July for the US market.

Regarding price, it’s a bit funny. The Endgadge reporter asked Shen whether they would charge more than the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. Here is Shen’s reply to that question (after chuckling at the question):

We wouldn’t dare to charge more than that.

The Zenfone AR is coming to the US as a Verizon exclusive. The rest of the globe, it’s unclear the unlocked model and the price associated with those models. We believe the V570KL is the global release and the ZS571KL is the Verizon release. Maybe we have it backwards?

So let’s see what Canada and other markets get because having the required LTE bands is of utmost importance. On that basis it’s unclear regarding having an international version of the Zenfone AR will work out for you or not. Stay tuned for more details!

[source: Engadget]

X00KD shows up at TENAA – Still a mystery phone

May 27, 2017 Categories: China, News, TENAA by 0 Comments

Another Zenfone has showed up at TENAA. This time it’s the X00KD which by all early indications is a low end budget smartphone. That means this could be a new Pegasus or Zenfone Go.

The specs include 16GB storage, 2GB RAM, MediaTek MT6737 @ 1.3GHz processor, Mali-T720 GPU, 5-inch display, 1280 x 720 resolution, 3/2GB RAM, dual rear camera, 12MP rear/5MP front cameras, and Android 7.0.

[source: TENAA, Android Soul, GeekBench, GFXBench]

« Newer Entries
Older Entries »